All-rounder Arshin Kulkarni shone with bat and bowl to lead India U-19 to a comfortable 7-wicket win over Afghanistan in ACC Men’s U19 Asia Cup 2023 on Friday.
Kulkarni claimed a 3-wicket haul with the ball and then hit an unbeaten 70 to begin their Asia Cup campaign on a high note in Dubai.
After putting Afghanistan to bat first, pacer Raj Limbani provided the first breakthrough to Boys in Blue as he dimissed opener Wafiullah Tarakhil on 15. Jamshid Zadran then took the charge and stitched a 49-run partnership with Sohil Khan to give momentum to Afghanistan’s innings.
However, both batters departed in quick succession which paved the way for India’s comeback. Wickets at regular intervals didn’t allow Afghanistan to form a big partnership and the side was bowled out for 173 in 50 overs.
Kulkarni and Limbani picked 3 wickets apiece, while Naman Tiwari claimed two wickets. Meanwhile, Murugan Abhishek, Musheer Khan were also among the wickets, picking one wicket apiece.
Despite losing opener Adarsh Singh (14) and batter Rudra Patel (5) early, Team India didn’t look under any pressure. Kulkarni along with Musheer Khan (48*) stitched an unbeaten 98-run partnership to steer India to a victory.
India will next play arch-rivals Pakistan in the tournament on 10 December at ICC Academy Oval 1, Dubai.
Squad: Arshin Kulkarni, Adarsh Singh, Rudra Mayur Patel, Sachin Dhas, Priyanshu Moliya, Musheer Khan, Uday Saharan (C), Aravelly Avanish Rao (WK), Saumy Kumar Pandey (VC), Murugan Abhishek, Innesh Mahajan (WK), Dhanush Gowda, Aaradhya Shukla, Raj Limbani, Naman Tiwari
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